In many ways, smartphones give us more control over our lives than ever before, instantly connecting us to information that lets us make informed decisions, makes sure we have the latest news, and keeps us in touch with anyone not living in the stone age. And while that's all true most of the time, there's a sinister side that has us giving up some of the control over the software that runs on our phones themselves, and all too often we find carriers behind these manipulations. You may know it simply as “bloat,” the software that you never asked for, that nonetheless finds itself ...

It's that time of year again: bargain-hunters bundle up for a long night out in the cold, armed with a vacuum flask full of coffee and a checklist of the stores they'll be hitting. Retail employees let out a resigned sigh as they prepare to begin a single shift that starts somewhere around Wednesday afternoon and lasts through Saturday morning. And if you're anything like us, you're staying warm at home, probably watching way too much Netflix, and hoping to snag a few good deals online. That's right – it's Black Friday time. What used to be a single day of retail hedonism has mutated ...

T-Mobile is serious about this whole "un-carrier" project. We've seen the company defy the existing market model in the US with its contract-free plans, and we've even seen the company extend its carrier-free strategy to most of its devices by not launching these with corporate logos and excessive bloatware. We know you're all disappointed with AT&T for heavily bloating the Nexus 6, so if this is a deal breaker for you, T-Mobile has a solution for you. Des Smith, senior product manager has just taken on Google+ to announce that T-Mobile is planning to give you the Nexus experience that ...

If you're looking to pick up a Nexus 9, Google's only too eager to ship one your way; both the 16GB and 32GB Nexus 9 are currently in stock, in either black or white (sorry, sand fans). At least, that's the situation with the WiFi-only version of the tablet, and while that might cut it when you've got a smartphone to tether to, what if you're craving the fully independent connectivity you only get with an LTE-capable tablet? Google hasn't yet begun sales of the LTE-equipped Nexus 9, noting only that it's “coming soon.” But how soon is “soon?” While Google's still not talking, one ...

The HTC One M8 for Windows is more than just another Windows Phone in the market. In addition to bringing the quality in design of the HTC One M8 to the Windows Phone space, it also proves that OEMs can use existing Android hardware to find success in another platform. We still don't have specific details on how the HTC One M8 for Windows has performed in T-Mobile, but as of today, we have another option to buy. After a little hurdle with the launch of the HTC One M8 for Windows earlier this month, T-Mobile has just made it official that the device is available today. The spec sheet and ...

Verizon is losing exclusives left and right. Earlier today we saw Motorola break ground on the Moto Maxx, the different-in-name-only international alternative to the Droid Turbo on Verizon. A couple days before that, AT&T announced plans to carry the HTC One M8 for Windows, ending the Verizon exclusivity that has persisted since it launched in August. But AT&T's not the only carrier we heard would be getting the Windows-Phone-running One M8, and a leak late last month teased T-Mobile's interest in the phone. Now that's looking all sorts of confirmed, as a support page for the phone ...

Samsung's new Gear S smartwatch bucks trends in more ways than one, giving users not just a curved wrist-hugging display, but also a wearable with integrated cellular connectivity. We saw the smartwatch launch back around IFA-time, and a few weeks later we started picking up on news about the model's path towards a US release. What we didn't have, though, were a lot of details, including pricing and specific timing. Today our answers begin to pour in, and both AT&T and T-Mobile are talking about getting Gear S sales started early next month. AT&T will be first out of the gate, ...

T-Mobile's been in a bit of a drought when it comes to high-end Windows Phones, but that may be due to end soon – one of the highest-end phones on the market available in the Windows flavor is HTC's One M8 for Windows, and it's slated to be arriving at the nation's fourth-largest carrier's doorstep. New word has arrived through a carrier leak of the T-Mobile HTC One M8 for Windows's launch date. According to this leaked info, you'll be able to buy the One M8 for Windows on T-Mo on November 9, just a few short days after it's supposed to launch on AT&T as well. Sure, the phone may be ...

Sure, T-Mobile might be shaking up the wireless industry with a whole slew of "Uncarrier" actions, but is it really turning into good results for the company? According to the T-Mobile Q3 results released today, those results aren't just "good" – they're incredible. First of all, T-Mobile has gained 1.4 million postpaid customers this quarter, among other impressive stats that make this T-Mobile's best quarter in company history. CEO John Legere said as much, taking the stage at Re/code's Code/Mobile conference for an interview on Monday. Here's a sampling of the other stats: Best ...

Last week, Sony and Verizon got together to announce the forthcoming release of the Xperia Z3v for the carrier. While that was interesting news to get, it wasn't quite the big Sony push back into the US that some of its fans had been hoping for, and also did nothing to explain what the Z3 situation on T-Mobile would look like. After all, the carrier had already confirmed its plans to carry the Xperia Z3 – we just needed to get details about when that would occur and how it would happen. Last week may have left us high and dry, but today T-Mobile comes through with some answers, welcoming ...

Regular users of Google Voice won't hesitate to tell you that the service is ten kinds of awesome, letting them juggle multiple devices while only distributing a single phone number to friends, family, and business contacts. If you're using it for calls or text messages, everything tends to work just fine, but when we start bringing pictures into the mix, a lot of users hit a brick wall. Problem is, Voice support for MMS has been extremely limited, and while we saw Sprint pick it up three years ago, other carriers haven't followed in its tracks... until now, that is. This week, Google has ...

You live an active life and your phone should be able to keep up! Many phones have to be hidden away and protected in the rain, at the pool or beach, or any other place they may get wet. While most phones will likely survive a quick splash, dropping your phone in the tub or sink, or trying to use it in the blowing rain will usually end in disaster. Some phones are starting to bring basic water resistance to their spec sheets, and are helping us to free up our lives and enjoy them like we were meant to do - after all, people are already water resistant. Such is goal of the Kyocera Hydro ...

We knew when the Sony Xperia Z3 went official that it would be headed to T-Mobile, but not many details about the specific model were announced. Would it have carrier branding? Would it be the standard 16GB model? These questions have been answered today by Sony itself, after a webpage with details on the T-Mobile Xperia Z3 went live earlier today. First of all, the storage situation is a bit different. The European unit, which we've unboxed and compared to the Xperia Z2, features 16GB of internal storage, but the T-Mobile version looks to be changing things up with a 32GB helping of flash ...

Summer already seems like a distant memory at this point, and the smartphones it brought us have started to be eclipsed by new models, like the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, and now all this Nexus 6 talk. But some of those summer launches have been taking their sweet time getting here, and we're only now starting to see their availability come to carriers in the States. Back in July, Microsoft announced the Nokia Lumia 530, the latest budget-priced handset from the manufacturer. We knew that T-Mobile would be offering the phone, but at the time we didn't have a better ETA than “later this year.” ...

Samsung's newest smartwatch is a bit different than the previous Gear models, in that it can function as a standalone device rather than just a smartphone companion. That's why it's important that mobile network operators decide to carry the watch, and Samsung has definitely made availability a priority with this Samsung Gear S US release. The wearable is headed to the US this fall for AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile. First of all, we went hands-on with the device when we were in Berlin for IFA 2014, so be sure to check out our video of the Gear S if you're considering making a ...

Over the past couple days now we've had a number of opportunities to talk about Samsung's release plans for its new Galaxy Note models. First we were running some theories about possible Note Edge pricing, before hearing about an accelerated start to the Note 4's release in South Korea. Today we turn our attention to the US, instead, as Samsung formally the start of Note 4 pre-orders tomorrow, in advance of the phone's release on October 17. Samsung's announcement has subsequently prompted statements from a number of US carriers, who add to this story with the pricing info we've been ...

Coming up to HTC's launch of the One M8 for Windows earlier this month, we thought we were looking at a Verizon exclusive. At least, that's where all the evidence seemed to be pointing, and when the time came for the handset to go official, HTC was calling Verizon its “exclusive launch partner.” But the thing about a smartphone exclusive, versus a launch exclusive like we have here, is that the latter leaves the door open for other carriers to pick up the handset a little further down the line, after that exclusivity period has waned. Indeed, mere hours after the One M8 for Windows was ...

Nokia's first Windows tablet, the Lumia 2520, launched last fall, and we quickly saw carriers in the States lining up to offer the 2520 to their subscribers – well, at least AT&T and Verizon were interested. A whole lot of time has passed since then, and we've seen plenty of other Windows tablets emerge, but the 2520's still managed to hold on to a bit of the spotlight, and early last month @evleaks posted a T-Mobile document that sure seemed to reveal that the carrier was planning to belatedly welcome the 2520 to its collection of tablets. This week we get to check out additional ...

Throttling: the word's enough to send a chill down the spine of any smartphone user. You've been enjoying your high-speed LTE connection, taking full advantage of your phone's big, beautiful screen and streaming some HD video, when all of a sudden that fire-hose of a connection slows to a trickle. This morning an internal T-Mobile memo leaked describing new efforts from the carrier to throttle high-bandwidth users. Should you be concerned? Long answer short: probably not. There are a few reasons for why that is, starting with who's affected. Namely: unlimited data users only. If you're on ...

The long-rumored device-unlocking app from T-Mobile is now here. The Un-carrier today released the T-Mobile Device Unlock app to Google Play earlier in the day as an easy method to undo the carrier locks on phones, but there's a catch of course. The application currently only functions on T-Mo's Samsung Galaxy Avant, a low-to-midranger which... isn't the most impressive phone out there, shall we say. The app is installable on other devices, as we discovered with a T-Mobile-branded Galaxy Note 3, but it doesn't function. We're hoping (and expecting) the app will make the leap to other ...

A new trend has arisen in the US over the last few years: switching to prepaid plans. Though prepaid plans have their quirks, the pros generally outweigh the cons when you compare them with most postpaid plans nowadays. To that end, T-Mobile has been one of the more popular prepaid destinations, with popular plans ranging from just $30 a month. Today, the company has announced that it has taken the #1 prepaid wireless spot in the United States. T-Mobile USA now has 15.64 million customers on its prepaid network, though this total includes the recently-acquired MetroPCS's connections. ...

When buying a new smartphone, what makes us choose one carrier over another? Device selection? Sure, but let's consider a phone like the Galaxy S5 or HTC One M8 that's broadly available on different networks. What then? Maybe you're already locked-in to service with one carrier, or maybe one has plans that are really attractive. Maybe you live someplace where reception is spotty, and some carriers have better coverage than others. But one thing we rarely consider when making these types of decisions is battery life. Perhaps we should, though, as one study points out how consistently longer ...

Time was, the only road to a consistent smartphone experience was to drop a metric buttload of cash and hope the device lived up to its hype. If it didn't, and you didn't catch it before the return period expired, too bad: you were stuck with that $600 brick for the rest of your two-year contract unless you could find someone to take it off your hands. Over the past year, the reality of the absurdly expensive smartphone has begun to come apart. Sure, most true flagships are still awfully pricey when you look at their off-contract cost, but devices like Motorola's Moto G and Moto E have ...

Updated with high-quality audio and links to download and stream below! Enjoy! Round smartwatches, roundly terrifying TOS agreements, and roundtable smartphone discussion: 'round here, it doesn't take much more than that to get a mobile podcast together, and –assuming the Hangouts gods will it– we'll be proving it to you in less than four hours. On today's episode, we're returning to a new favorite in the segments list, plumbing the depths of the podcast inbox to let you know what phone you should buy. We'll also tell you who won last week's smartphone giveaway and surprise you with ...

How much do you spend each month just to stay connected? As cell phones – namely, smartphones – have increased in popularity over the last decade, the cost of keeping them connected has slowly crept upwards. Cheaper functions, like voice calling and SMS, have taken a back seat to the more convenient and bandwidth-hogging mobile data. As such, calling plans and text messaging are now, more often than not, offered in unlimited quantities. However, gone are the days of $20 and $30 unlimited data plans (unless you're lucky enough to be hanging on to a grandfathered plan). The cost of ...